Monsanto to quit Europe

Monsanto, the world's largest GM seed company, is pulling out of the European cereal business in a surprise move that raised hopes of victory among anti-GM campaigners.

The firm, the American pioneer of GM, confirmed yesterday that it is to close European cereal business headquarters at Trumpington, Cambridgeshire, which employs 125 people.

The decision follows the failure to introduce genetically modified hybrid wheat to Europe, and the company has decided to cut costs.

Monsanto bought the business from Unilever in 1998 at a time of high optimism for GM, when wheat was considered the big money spinner.

The company said yesterday that the growth in hybrid wheat had "failed to materialise".

Jeff Cox, Monsanto's general manager, said: "We've made great progress over the past few years in realigning the cereals business to make it more competitive in a much tougher European seed market.

"Our lack of success in hybrids means this is no longer a good strategic fit for Monsanto."

The company is reorganising its UK herbicide oil seed rape operations. Breeding stations in France, Germany and the Czech Republic will also be affected.

Monsanto announced its decision on the eve of today's publication of the results of the government's farm-scale evaluations of GM crops.

A mixed verdict on the technology is anticipated in what is being seen as a crucial part of the government's research into whether to allow commercial GM crops.

It also follows last month's confirmation of unease among the public when the widest formal public debate ever conducted in Britain found that an overwhelming percentage of people were uneasy, suspicious or hostile to GM crops.

More than 650 public meetings were held around the country and about 37,000 people responded to questionnaires, with 54% saying they never want to see GM crops grown in the UK.

Pete Riley, of Friends of the Earth, said the firm was "pulling out after five years with no products to show and no test sites for Monsanto GM cereals in Britain this year."

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Monsanto is one of the most thuggish companies in the world today. This is very good news for Europeans who are still unconvinced about the highly touted, yet mostly invisible benefits of GM crops. While there seems to be no evidence of danger to humans, the potential danger to the environment is huge and truly unknowable.

In further news, the EU is still adamnant about refusing to allow hormone-treated beef from the US and Canada. Link Some of this can be attributed to protectionism but many Europeans view with skepticism attempts to "scientifically" alter their food.

Originally posted by Frohickey GM...its only a few levels higher than selective breeding of peapods done by Mendel.

Or the breeding of wanted traits in dogs from wolves.

I guess what is really the issue here is that Europeans do not trust scientists to do what is right. Or is it Europeans do not trust scientists working in large corporations to do what is right.

I guess that would dampen innovation and scientific progress if this were the prevalent sentiment of the non-scientific community towards its scientists and engineers.

More respect is given to entertainers and sports figures than to scientists and engineers. Pretty sad.

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There's no doubt that man has been genetically influencing plants and animals since the dawn of civilization. What's at stake with GM food is not selective breeding but cross species modification. Many of the Roundup resistance crops that Monsanto has been breeding have created superweeds as well as weeds that are resisitant to Roundup.

Scientists have always manipulated things in their labs, it's not their actions that the people of the EU are worried about, rather the corporate policies of Monsanto. The cover ups and manipulation of data and blatant propaganda.

Just because one is a scientist or engineer does not give them license to do as they see fit. The marketplace and the individual in society has every right to choose and their "discoveries" should not be forced on an unwilling public. There is no doubt that much of the "science" involved in transgenic crops is pretty short-term. Didn't we learn back in the 50s and 60s that there are long-term effects to what the scientists came up with? Why are our memories so short?

I agree that fluff is given more attention than substance and that is sad.

The idea of GM crops doesn't bother me from the standpoint of "just GM". For all the talk of "disease resistant", I'm concerned about some plant disease(s) that didn't get the genetic message. I gues my thinking is affected by the mutations known to happen to staph bugs in hospitals.

I guess it's also my notion that mono-cultures just aren't Good Things. Too much of the "all your eggs in one basket".

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